by G. K. DeRosa
“No, I still cannot risk Stellan recognizing you. He has always involved himself in matters that do not concern him when it comes to the Constantins. I will send someone else, but this time I will not leave anything up to chance.”
“Who can you trust with such an important task?”
“I will send Magnus,” Fabian responded with an evil twinkle in his eye.
As Roman strode through the front door he was greeted by a tense Nico.
“How is she?” he asked.
“Fine for now. I think she is coping pretty well all things considered. And I believe that her powers are starting to kick in. She saw me in the tree tonight, and she recognized me. She’s starting to sense things beyond her normal human world.”
“So you neglected to tell her that we can transform into falcons?” Nico smirked.
“I think we can inform her of that minor detail a little later.”
“You just don’t want her to know that you’ve been spying on her for weeks,” admonished Nico.
“I’ll tell her when the time is right.”
“Well we have some news from Stellan.” He tilted his head to the side. “He asked that we contact him as soon as you got home.”
Roman followed Nico into the living room where Stellan’s non-corporeal form had appeared, and he was pacing animatedly.
“So you are sure that it was Fabian that sent Patrick?” asked Nico.
“I am afraid so. I spoke to a colleague who confirmed that Patrick had been turned with the sole purpose of coming to Oak Bluffs to track the two of you. Since the selection of the next Guardian is almost upon us, the Council has been keeping a close eye on Celeste. When they discovered that Patrick, a new vampire, had appeared in town they became suspicious and found what we had feared all along.”
“Why didn’t they warn you that he was here?” asked Roman clenching his fists.
“Well technically, I am no longer a member of the Council, Roman. I have been officially retired for some time, so they have no obligation to inform me of anything. Additionally, when Patrick first appeared, they were operating under the assumption that he had come for you and Nico. They did not believe that Celeste was in any danger.”
“So it is our fault that Patrick went after her?” Nico’s lips thinned.
“I imagine that he thought it would be the quickest way to get to the two of you,” said Stellan, shaking his head.
Roman marched restlessly from window to window. “But why after all of these years would Fabian suddenly come looking for us? Certainly he has had countless opportunities to kill us before now. Why now, and why involve Celeste?”
“As to the timing, I have no idea. As for Celeste, my guess would be that when Patrick discovered the special attachment you both feel for her”—he paused and looked accusatorially at them both—“he shared this fact with Fabian. He must have been extremely curious to find out more about her which is why he had Patrick try to capture her.” Stellan huffed, throwing his hands in the air. “But these are merely suppositions boys…”
“So is the Council going to do something to protect her?” asked Nico.
“Unfortunately, they cannot intervene directly, not without Fabian making an overt move. They will be keeping an eye on things as they develop. Celeste’s birthday is only a few days away, and once she comes into her powers she will be able to protect herself.”
“Against Fabian? Alone?” snarled Roman, “Are they insane? He is a thousand-year-old sorcerer with more power than the devil himself. If he has found out what she is, there will be nothing to stop him from getting to her. Celeste is a force of good, and he will do anything to destroy her, just like he did our parents.”
“Roman, we’ll protect her.” Nico placed his hand on his brother’s chest to calm the mounting rage.
“No, you don’t understand Nico, you never will,” he said, pushing his brother aside. “You didn’t see what Fabian did to our parents. Our parents were strong and powerful vampires and they were nothing up against him. Celeste is just a girl. She is not ready for any of this.” He looked from Nico to Stellan, his eyes filled with fury.
Then Stellan broke in, “We will help her. She will not fight alone, I promise you, Roman. I will do everything in my power to keep her safe.”
Brian ran after Celeste as she walked out toward the school parking lot. “So how do you think you did on the final?”
“Pretty well, actually, it looks like all that cramming paid off. How about you?”
“I think I did okay. One down and only four more to go.”
They walked toward their cars together in an uncomfortable silence. Brian finally broke the stand off. “Look I’m really sorry about last night. I don’t want things to be weird between us. I should never have kissed you.”
“Brian, don’t be sorry.” She turned to him with a genuine smile. “And things won’t be weird unless we let them.”
“Hi guys!” said Natalie as she came bounding toward them. “Thank God at least one final exam is over. I never want to think about American history again!”
“Agreed,” they all said together.
Natalie laced her hand through Celeste’s arm. “Let’s go for a celebratory lunch at Ralph’s. I’m sure everyone will be there, and I could totally use the sugar high from a chocolate milkshake before going home to study again.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Celeste.
Celeste wished she could talk to Natalie about what had happened with Brian, but she knew Natalie liked him. Now that she and Natalie were becoming so close again, she really didn’t want to ruin things. And she really wanted to tell her everything about Roman and Nico, but Celeste had been sworn to secrecy. She understood well that it was safer for Natalie not to know. It was just so hard to carry all of these secrets alone.
Nico returned home to find Roman pacing nervously in front of the fireplace. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his brother in such a state, and it was very unsettling. Roman was always calm and collected. Nico shuddered at the thought of the few times when Roman had lost control; it was not something he liked to think about.
“You’re going to wear a path into the rug if you keep that up,” said Nico jokingly.
Roman glared and continued pacing.
Nico pulled out two ornate invitations from his backpack. “We have been cordially invited to attend Celeste’s eighteenth birthday on Friday. It will be at Natalie’s house. Apparently, her family is out of town for the weekend.”
“Great,” said Roman, “I’ll make sure to send my tux to the dry cleaners.”
“Now that’s the spirit, brother! A little humor is exactly what we need in this situation.”
“I know your main concern is this party, but there are some more pressing matters we need to discuss.”
Nico dropped his backpack and settled in on the massive leather couch. “Please proceed.”
Roman let out a breath. “I have been debating whether or not we should tell Celeste about Fabian. On one hand, I believe she deserves to know that her life could be at risk. On the other, I don’t want her to be concerned about something that she has no control over.”
Nico paused to consider. “I don’t think we should tell her. We really don’t know much for certain, and I agree that having her worry isn’t going to help anything. She has enough going on right now with final exams and graduation. Let’s let her enjoy her last few days of normalcy.”
“Fine, we will keep this information from her until we know more, and in the meantime I will keep her safe.” Roman’s jaw tightened.
“What are you going to do, follow her everywhere she goes?” asked Nico.
“Yes, if that’s what it takes.”
“Okay, well, that’s not creepy,” countered Nico.
“Be careful, little brother, you are starting to sound like her.” Roman smirked.
“You are the one that needs to be careful, Roman. You are falling in love with her.”
Ralph’
s Diner was packed with rowdy students celebrating the end of the first day of final exams. No one was giving a second thought to tomorrow’s exam or the next day’s; that could wait until later this evening. Celeste, Natalie and Brian sat at the end of a large communal table with half of their senior class happily eating, drinking and chatting away.
“Okay, we need to talk details for your birthday on Friday!” Natalie clapped her hands excitedly.
“Let’s not go too overboard, okay? I just want a low key get together with my dearest friends,” said Celeste.
“But it’s your eighteenth birthday!” Natalie crinkled her nose and furrowed her eyebrows looking as determined as ever. “That’s a really special year, and who knows where we will all be next year. This could be our last year celebrating together.”
“Okay, okay, so what were you thinking?” she asked afraid to hear the answer.
“I was thinking a costume ball would be fun!”
“What? That’s not low key, Natalie. That’s the total opposite of low key!”
“Come on, it will be so much fun to get all dressed up in costumes. I already know what I want to be – Cat Woman – meow! And anyway, the invitations already went out so there’s really nothing we can do now.”
Celeste shook her head and laughed. Natalie was absolutely incorrigible.
“Hello there beautiful ladies—and Brian.” Nico sauntered up to the table and pulled up a chair. His short dark hair was gelled perfectly in place as usual, and his designer sunglasses rested casually on his head.
“Hi, Nico!” the girls replied, as the entire female population of the table turned to stare at him. Even the cute young waitress in the poodle skirt who had ignored their table for most of the afternoon appeared out of nowhere, flashing a smile.
“I don’t want to be a bad influence, but can you bring me your finest pitcher of beer please?” asked Nico playfully.
“Bad influence… only if you don’t share!” said Natalie with a flirty wink.
As the chatter ensued, Nico sent Roman a text message.
I’m with Celeste at the diner. Don’t worry she’ll be safe with me.
Surely his brother would relax a bit knowing she was with him at a crowded restaurant filled with eye witnesses.
Later that evening, Celeste attempted to study for her calculus exam, but she kept glancing out the window into the oak tree hoping to see the falcon. She unlatched the lock and pushed open the window, peering into the dark branches of the tree. As unnerving as the bird had been when it first appeared, she had started to feel curiously comforted by its presence lately. Nearly every night before she went to bed, Celeste found it perched on a limb watching her.
There was something almost human about the way it looked at her. And those eyes - she had never seen a bird with blue eyes. It was the strangest thing. It was those familiar blue eyes that had caused her to shout out Roman’s name the other night. A part of her knew she was crazy even thinking it, but after everything she had discovered in the past few days, nothing seemed impossible anymore.
“Celeste, are you still awake?” whispered her mother through the door as she noiselessly came up the stairs.
“Yup, still studying – come on in.” She closed the book in her lap. “What are you doing home?”
“It was a slow night, and I feel so guilty about how I’ve abandoned you lately. We haven’t had a night together in weeks, and I miss you!” Mrs. Wilder sat on the bed next to her daughter.
“I miss you too, Mom.” She hugged her tightly.
“You seem so preoccupied lately. Is everything okay?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
Celeste wished she could tell her mother about Roman and Nico and all of the wild thoughts that were running through her head. After her reaction last time, she didn’t think it would be wise. “I guess so, except for the fact that Brian kissed me yesterday.”
Her mother’s eyes lit up. “He did?”
“Yup.”
“Well, I can’t say that comes to me as a total surprise.” She swept a curl behind her shoulder. “He’s been crazy for you since you were little kids.”
“How come I’m the only one who didn’t know that?” Celeste pondered aloud.
“Sometimes it’s harder to see when you’re the one in the situation.”
“I guess so.”
“How do you feel about it?”
“I kind of freaked out when it happened. It was a total surprise to me. Brian and I have been best friends forever, but I had no clue he felt that way about me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Pretend like it never happened!” said Celeste, placing her book on the nightstand.
“Celeste,” scolded her mom, “you know Brian is a wonderful boy, and I know he cares about you so much. Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss his feelings for you, or your feelings for him.”
“But that’s the thing, Mom, I just don’t feel that way about him. I almost wish I did.” She shrugged.
“Not the way you feel about Nico, you mean?”
Celeste smiled. “Well, yes and no. I really like Nico, he’s sweet, and super hot and a lot of fun—”
“But?”
“When I first met him I thought maybe there could be something there, but there’s someone else.”
“Oh really? Spill young lady!” Mom’s eyes lit up.
“It’s Nico’s older brother, Roman.”
Chapter 12
“I can’t believe we’re done!” Natalie exclaimed as she, Celeste and Brian walked under the archway of St. Alice’s for the last time.
Celeste looked back at all the swinging classroom doors, seniors spilling out from every which way. A pang of nostalgia filled her gut as she remembered her first day of high school. Mrs. Kennedy had driven her and Brian, and she had been so nervous, wondering if she would make new friends, if she would like her teachers, meet a cute boy. The last four years had flown by, and she was certain that she’d missed out on some of the best parts of high school because she had felt so empty inside. But now everything was changing. She could somehow feel it: deep inside, she knew that nothing was ever going to be the same.
“Cel, are you coming to the bonfire on Parker Hill tonight?” asked Brian as he threw his backpack into his car.
“She needs to get her beauty sleep tonight,” interjected Natalie. “She has to be well rested for her eighteenth birthday costume bash tomorrow.”
“Actually, I was thinking of going for a little while.”
Both Natalie and Brian paused dramatically.
“I never thought I would see the day when Celeste Wilder actually wanted to go to a party – two days in a row, even.” Natalie bumped her shoulder.
“This is the new Celeste Wilder,” she said with a smile.
“Great, do you want to go together Cel?” Brian’s eyes lit up.
“You can pick us both up,” said Natalie. “I’ll be at Celeste’s making sure her costume is appropriate for the birthday extravaganza I have planned.”
Natalie stood with arms folded peering into the mirror as Celeste looked at her anxiously.
“So what do you think?” Celeste did a little twirl in her costume.
“I love it! That black mini dress is super sexy with that chiffon cape, and is that a bat on your belt?” she asked as she took a step closer. “Amazing! Let’s see the fangs.”
“I don’t want to put them in yet. I sound funny when I talk.” Celeste held out the pointy white fangs in demonstration.
“This is going to be the best party ever! I am so excited.”
“I am too, Nat. I don’t think I ever thanked you for planning this amazing birthday party or for being such a good friend. I know I was the one that pushed you away when we were younger, and I really appreciate you giving me a second chance.”
“Don’t be silly Celeste, I love you! You are one of my best friends and always will be.” She swung her arm around her friend.
Tears
pricked Celeste’s eyes, but Natalie interjected, “No, no, none of that tonight. We are going to our last bonfire as seniors, exams are over and we are done with high school!”
When they reached Parker Hill, there was hardly a place to park Brian’s Mustang. Pretty much all of St. Alice’s High School along with some of the recent grads now attending the community college had shown up. The clearing teemed with students drinking, laughing and enjoying their first night of freedom after exams. Natalie bounded ahead toward a group of girls, leaving Brian and Celeste struggling to keep up.
“I’m going to grab a beer. Do you want one too?” asked Brian over the blaring music coming from a nearby parked car.
“I thought you were our designated driver.” She threw her hands on her hips.
“I said I’d bring you girls here, but I never promised a ride back.” Now Celeste really frowned. “Relax, I’m kidding, Cel. The Oak Bluffs taxi company is giving free rides for graduating seniors all night so I’m planning on leaving the ’Stang here for the night.”
“Then yes, I will have a beer!” she said with a grin.
The party was fun. Celeste couldn’t believe she’d missed out on so many of these last year. Brian had gone off in search of Natalie, and Celeste sipped her beer gazing at the flickering flames of the fire. As she stared, the flames appeared to change and transform, taking on ominous figures – first a skeleton, then a monster, next a demon. It seemed like they were dancing in the firelight. She gasped and quickly turned away, shaking her head to clear the strange vision, but when she looked back they were gone. As Celeste rubbed her eyes in disbelief, a cold hand landed on her shoulder and she almost jumped out of her skin.
“It’s okay Celeste, it’s just me, Roman. Are you all right?”
She leapt into his arms without thinking. “Oh Roman, yeah, I’m okay.” Feeling suddenly awkward she quickly released him and took a step back. “What are you doing here?”
“Nico forced me to come along so that I would get out of the house and have fun, and serve as his designated driver, no doubt.” The look on his face made her think he didn’t mind it as much as he was pretending to. She laughed and slid over on the bench to make room for him.